Artist Vasundhara Broota explores female body as site of resistance in solo show

New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) A solo show at Vadehra Art Gallery here presents artist Vasundhara Tewari Broota's decades-long preoccupation with the nude female body, beginning with a deconstructed posturing of body parts and growing into compositional renderings of the full figure as her practice evolved in scale.

"Woman Song | Looking Back" features nearly 35 paintings by Broota from the 1980s till present that render the female body as "a site of process and resistance, embedded in the emotional tensions of fluctuating life cycles as much as a resolute existence".

"The protagonist in my art has been the woman and I’ve worked with figure, form and texture to convey the sensibility with which I experience life. For me, the art studio is a space where I can be free of constraints and experiment, express and discover, all at the same time - building an alternate world for myself," Broota told PTI.

In her works, the female body is disassociated from its structural whole in a gradual rebellion that feels both quiet and purposeful, "wresting the woman out of, say, the ghoonghat or the burqa, or in other words, the social fabric meant to contain her".

Often reclining, often erect, the figures appear as powerful participants in the compositional landscapes that posit them, transforming, in feeling, into inner landscapes themselves.

The figures conjoin with each other or select verdant elements in theatrical settings prioritising the expression of deep emotions that acknowledge the sentient influence of shared spaces.

Broota further challenges the mundanity of an everyday world, which holds distinct connotations for and an asymmetric authority over the lives of women, particularly those belonging to certain generations, regions and communities, by including flourishes of the fantastical and surreal.

Her instinctive plotting results in an articulate vocabulary for the feminine experience - a flower becomes the womb, a yogic pose becomes a liberation.

Her work brings in fantastical and otherworldly elements, often conjoining the figures among themselves or with select natural elements, to depict an entrenchment from which liberation, which is often seen as creation, will come.

"We’re delighted to present Vasundhara Tewari Broota’s solo exhibition ‘Woman Song | Looking Back’. The exhibition brings together her works from the 1980s to the present. Over the decades, her oeuvre has shown a powerful engagement with the female form and psyche. The show offers an opportunity to reflect on her artistic journey and its continued relevance," Sonia Ballaney, executive director at Vadehra Art Gallery, said.

The show will come to an end on October 11. PTI MAH MAH MAH